Image

Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again

Moderators: pacers33granger, boomershadow, Grang33r, pacerfan, Jake0890

User avatar
Scoot McGroot
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 41,737
And1: 11,027
Joined: Feb 16, 2005
     

Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#1 » by Scoot McGroot » Wed Jun 24, 2020 5:40 pm

Paul George claims he only demanded trade from Pacers after he had "the best power forward" lined up to come to Indy, and Indy refused. If it was free agency, this would have been either Blake Griffin (he would've had to take a huge paycut from the supermax he got to re-sign in LA) or Paul Millsap (who signed for 3/$90m to leave Atlanta for Denver). After we said no, we can't afford them, but we'd like to sign this other top 20 PF (who is rumored to be Danilo Gallinari that year), PG13 demanded a trade.

Reports also claim it may have been via trade and someone like Anthony Davis, which, sure! If we had anything to trade for him, I'm sure we would've!

However, I think this is now the 3rd or 4th different re-writing from Paul of how the Indy separation occurred, so, who knows?

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/paul-george-claims-pacers-could-have-gotten-star-power-forward-but-chose-not-to-leading-to-his-trade/

"I ain't gon' say the names, because I'm going to keep their business private, I'm just saying it like this," George began. "I had at the time, the best power forward saying he wanted to come to Indy and team up with me. They like 'we're a mid-major, we're a small market, we're can't do it, we're a small market, we can't afford that.'"

At that point, George felt that the team was not committed to winning. That is when he decided to leave.

"What am I doing here? You know what I mean? They don't want to win. I've got the best power forward that wants to come play here. Not everybody chooses Indy to come play here. This dude wanted to come play here. They didn't want to do it."


https://8points9seconds.com/2020/06/23/indiana-pacers-paul-george-signing/

Read on Twitter
?s=20

Read on Twitter
?s=20

Read on Twitter
?s=20

Remember, this was the roster at the time:
Image
Tom White
Sixth Man
Posts: 1,917
And1: 926
Joined: Aug 27, 2001
Location: Indiana
 

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#2 » by Tom White » Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:15 pm

He just needs to shut up and go away. Far away. Paul has been so full of crap for so long...........
HurricaneDij25
Junior
Posts: 398
And1: 273
Joined: Jul 17, 2017
Location: Valparaiso, IN
Contact:
     

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#3 » by HurricaneDij25 » Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:28 pm

It was Griffin, nothing to see here... Would have been an awful signing.
User avatar
Pacersike
Analyst
Posts: 3,385
And1: 823
Joined: Jun 10, 2007
Location: Belgium

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#4 » by Pacersike » Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:58 pm

Tom White wrote:He just needs to shut up and go away. Far away. Paul has been so full of crap for so long...........

He has put so many cherries on our great cake trade deal, there is no room left for another...
User avatar
boomershadow
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 5,325
And1: 6,234
Joined: Jul 14, 2014
Location: Naptown
   

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#5 » by boomershadow » Wed Jun 24, 2020 7:54 pm

Paul is a great player, but he is damn wishy washy.

Looking at that roster, I dont really blame him for asking for a trade. Larry did not do a great job rebuilding around George. The Blue Collar Gold Swagger era was over (as much as I still love to reminisce about that team], PG was just the last piece to go, and we have all moved on since then.
User avatar
Scoot McGroot
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 41,737
And1: 11,027
Joined: Feb 16, 2005
     

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#6 » by Scoot McGroot » Wed Jun 24, 2020 8:17 pm

boomershadow wrote:Paul is a great player, but he is damn wishy washy.

Looking at that roster, I dont really blame him for asking for a trade. Larry did not do a great job rebuilding around George. The Blue Collar Gold Swagger era was over (as much as I still love to reminisce about that team], PG was just the last piece to go, and we have all moved on since then.


8 of them fully out of the nba now. 9 if you count Lance and his year abroad. 10 if you count CJ Miles after his injury. 2 of the guys still around are just Niang and GR3. Insane how little talent was on that roster.
Topofthekey
Lead Assistant
Posts: 4,728
And1: 1,883
Joined: Nov 18, 2017
 

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#7 » by Topofthekey » Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:50 am

Someone go give him a hug and tell him that everything's OK. That it's not his fault. That it's OK to let go and move on
User avatar
boomershadow
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 5,325
And1: 6,234
Joined: Jul 14, 2014
Location: Naptown
   

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#8 » by boomershadow » Thu Jun 25, 2020 2:54 am

Scoot McGroot wrote:
boomershadow wrote:Paul is a great player, but he is damn wishy washy.

Looking at that roster, I dont really blame him for asking for a trade. Larry did not do a great job rebuilding around George. The Blue Collar Gold Swagger era was over (as much as I still love to reminisce about that team], PG was just the last piece to go, and we have all moved on since then.


8 of them fully out of the nba now. 9 if you count Lance and his year abroad. 10 if you count CJ Miles after his injury. 2 of the guys still around are just Niang and GR3. Insane how little talent was on that roster.


I had a soft spot for each of Teague, Monta, and Stuckey, but oh boy did I not like seeing them all share a backcourt.
pacers33granger
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 15,071
And1: 6,579
Joined: Sep 26, 2006
 

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#9 » by pacers33granger » Sun Jun 28, 2020 4:47 pm

Seems highly highly likely it was Blake given that he was one of the "best" PFs at the time, was a free agent, had some issues with LAC at the time, and Paul was likely actively speaking to guys in LA given he wanted to be there.

I am very skeptical that it was a guarantee that he'd come, especially once LAC offered the full max. And why would we have wanted him? Everyone knew that was a bad deal when he signed it. We would have had a ceiling of a 2nd round team given that Blake had a better team around him than we could have created even with Paul. And then Paul would have walked when it went sour and we'd be stuck with Blake.

I still blame him (and mostly his agent) for asking for a trade the way they did. But I was fine with Paul until he started talking all this crap again. He hasn't been good enough as a 2nd banana to win anything, yet we were supposed to make whatever moves he wanted when he was coming off of a major injury?

It's clear he's not happy with being the "bad guy" and is trying to do damage control with his image since he's now quit on two teams.
User avatar
Jake0890
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 5,983
And1: 807
Joined: Jul 12, 2012
Location: Indianapolis, IN
   

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#10 » by Jake0890 » Thu Jul 2, 2020 5:24 pm

According to JMichael on twitter (Pacers beat writer - you should follow if you aren't already), it was neither Blake nor Millsap. It was Anthony Davis. PG got AD on board. However, there was never a deal in place with the Pelicans. It wasn't as if the Pacers backed out of a deal, there was never one constructed.

Old news at this point, but there it is.
pacers33granger
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 15,071
And1: 6,579
Joined: Sep 26, 2006
 

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#11 » by pacers33granger » Thu Jul 2, 2020 5:58 pm

Jake0890 wrote:According to JMichael on twitter (Pacers beat writer - you should follow if you aren't already), it was neither Blake nor Millsap. It was Anthony Davis. PG got AD on board. However, there was never a deal in place with the Pelicans. It wasn't as if the Pacers backed out of a deal, there was never one constructed.

Old news at this point, but there it is.
There's virtually no way it was AD though. He was under contract so had zero say in where he went and we didn't have close to the pieces.

If for some reason Paul is talking about him then he's got to be mentally handicapped if he believed management nixed a deal to get AD that he had put in place.
pacers33granger
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 15,071
And1: 6,579
Joined: Sep 26, 2006
 

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#12 » by pacers33granger » Thu Jul 2, 2020 6:03 pm

I would bet Paul and his team put AD's name out there. He clearly thought people would take his statement as "Paul just wants to win and Indy didn't let him" instead of people agreeing with management for not giving in and making a bad deal to appease their star.

Kinda funny though that AD didn't care whatsoever to go where Paul went later and his teams were never on AD's lists.
User avatar
boomershadow
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 5,325
And1: 6,234
Joined: Jul 14, 2014
Location: Naptown
   

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#13 » by boomershadow » Thu Jul 2, 2020 8:02 pm

pacers33granger wrote:
Jake0890 wrote:According to JMichael on twitter (Pacers beat writer - you should follow if you aren't already), it was neither Blake nor Millsap. It was Anthony Davis. PG got AD on board. However, there was never a deal in place with the Pelicans. It wasn't as if the Pacers backed out of a deal, there was never one constructed.

Old news at this point, but there it is.
There's virtually no way it was AD though. He was under contract so had zero say in where he went and we didn't have close to the pieces.

If for some reason Paul is talking about him then he's got to be mentally handicapped if he believed management nixed a deal to get AD that he had put in place.


I'm positive Davis is the player that's being talked about. I don't think Indy had the kind of assets it would have taken to get AD, though. Look at the roster that year. There's certainly no Ingram, Ball, or Hart on that team. Or a 4th overall pick.

I think Myles Turner is one of the most underrated players in the league, but no way I would trade AD for him.
pacers33granger
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 15,071
And1: 6,579
Joined: Sep 26, 2006
 

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#14 » by pacers33granger » Thu Jul 2, 2020 10:09 pm

boomershadow wrote:
pacers33granger wrote:
Jake0890 wrote:According to JMichael on twitter (Pacers beat writer - you should follow if you aren't already), it was neither Blake nor Millsap. It was Anthony Davis. PG got AD on board. However, there was never a deal in place with the Pelicans. It wasn't as if the Pacers backed out of a deal, there was never one constructed.

Old news at this point, but there it is.
There's virtually no way it was AD though. He was under contract so had zero say in where he went and we didn't have close to the pieces.

If for some reason Paul is talking about him then he's got to be mentally handicapped if he believed management nixed a deal to get AD that he had put in place.


I'm positive Davis is the player that's being talked about. I don't think Indy had the kind of assets it would have taken to get AD, though. Look at the roster that year. There's certainly no Ingram, Ball, or Hart on that team. Or a 4th overall pick.

I think Myles Turner is one of the most underrated players in the league, but no way I would trade AD for him.
How can it be AD other than the "best PF" part? We had no avenue to get him whatsoever and Paul simply couldn't be upset that, even if AD wanted to come, we couldn't put together a package to even get NOP to take a call.
pacers33granger
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 15,071
And1: 6,579
Joined: Sep 26, 2006
 

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#15 » by pacers33granger » Thu Jul 2, 2020 10:10 pm

Only conceivable way I could see is if management said we can't afford him as in we can't get him, which would make this all the more stupid.
pacers33granger
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 15,071
And1: 6,579
Joined: Sep 26, 2006
 

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#16 » by pacers33granger » Thu Jul 2, 2020 10:14 pm

Also at least with Blake or Millsap Paul did something and has some semblance of a reason to gripe. If he's getting guys to say they'd probably resign if we traded for them knowing full well we can't then he did nothing whatsoever until they're a free agent.
User avatar
boomershadow
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 5,325
And1: 6,234
Joined: Jul 14, 2014
Location: Naptown
   

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#17 » by boomershadow » Thu Jul 2, 2020 11:30 pm

He has said "one day I'll tell the story of why I left Indiana", but he isnt gonna say it all at once, he is gonna do it bit by bit over time to get people blogging and tweeting about him each time.
pacers33granger
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 15,071
And1: 6,579
Joined: Sep 26, 2006
 

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#18 » by pacers33granger » Thu Jul 2, 2020 11:32 pm

So Paul went public with the trade request in June of 2017.



A month later, AD was talking about how he had Cousins were working out to prepare for the upcoming season. NOP had just traded for Cousins in a shocking deal at the deadline and the expectations were as high as ever for the Davis Pelicans. The Pelicans also signed Rondo that offseason when he still had some hype.



Davis had just finished year 1 of the 5 year extension he signed in July of 2015. He would not have an opportunity to be a free agent until 3 years after Paul requested the trade (this summer).



At the time, our most valuable young players were Myles and....GRIII? Joe Young? We won 6 more games than the Pelicans.

So to wrap it up, AD is 1 year into his extension and coming into a season with real hope for optimism and an upward trajectory. He now has another star, the best center in the game at the time. While there have always been rumors about him leaving given the small market issue, none of it has really come up at this point in his career. Yet he committed, in some form or fashion, to another small market team who has never been even close to his radar by any reports, to team up with someone who was on a similar level as his new running mate while he has 3 full years left on his deal and knows he will never be traded for what Indy could offer even if it was literally everything.

Sorry, I don't buy it one bit. Blake was a free agent that summer and Paul would likely have talked to LA guys given his desire to be there. And there was semi-serious talk about LAC not offering Blake the full max and him being gettable by another team. And he was, at one time, the best PF in the game. He could be considered by some at that time if you classify AD as a center.

I understand his position, to a point. We didn't feel like he (Paul) was worth going completely all in with. If we had Lebron, we'd sign the big money high risk talent if he wanted it. Even if you get an injury riddled guy after 1 year, it's worth it if it keeps Lebron because Lebron alone is worth both his and that guys' contract. Paul wasn't that good and it wasn't a wise economic decision to go all in for what could easily be a 2nd round flameout for one year at best if things don't fall right. The LA teams can afford to do that with B tier stars if need be.
User avatar
Scoot McGroot
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 41,737
And1: 11,027
Joined: Feb 16, 2005
     

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#19 » by Scoot McGroot » Fri Jul 3, 2020 12:34 am

pacers33granger wrote:So Paul went public with the trade request in June of 2017.



A month later, AD was talking about how he had Cousins were working out to prepare for the upcoming season. NOP had just traded for Cousins in a shocking deal at the deadline and the expectations were as high as ever for the Davis Pelicans. The Pelicans also signed Rondo that offseason when he still had some hype.



Davis had just finished year 1 of the 5 year extension he signed in July of 2015. He would not have an opportunity to be a free agent until 3 years after Paul requested the trade (this summer).



At the time, our most valuable young players were Myles and....GRIII? Joe Young? We won 6 more games than the Pelicans.

So to wrap it up, AD is 1 year into his extension and coming into a season with real hope for optimism and an upward trajectory. He now has another star, the best center in the game at the time. While there have always been rumors about him leaving given the small market issue, none of it has really come up at this point in his career. Yet he committed, in some form or fashion, to another small market team who has never been even close to his radar by any reports, to team up with someone who was on a similar level as his new running mate while he has 3 full years left on his deal and knows he will never be traded for what Indy could offer even if it was literally everything.

Sorry, I don't buy it one bit. Blake was a free agent that summer and Paul would likely have talked to LA guys given his desire to be there. And there was semi-serious talk about LAC not offering Blake the full max and him being gettable by another team. And he was, at one time, the best PF in the game. He could be considered by some at that time if you classify AD as a center.

I understand his position, to a point. We didn't feel like he (Paul) was worth going completely all in with. If we had Lebron, we'd sign the big money high risk talent if he wanted it. Even if you get an injury riddled guy after 1 year, it's worth it if it keeps Lebron because Lebron alone is worth both his and that guys' contract. Paul wasn't that good and it wasn't a wise economic decision to go all in for what could easily be a 2nd round flameout for one year at best if things don't fall right. The LA teams can afford to do that with B tier stars if need be.


J. Michael of the Indy Star is ALL IN that it was Anthony Davis. And yes, he's pointed out the absurdity of the whole thing, much as you have. To J. Michael, it's even worse because Paul George claims now he was upset that he got AD to say "I'd like to be traded there", and Paul was upset that we had NOTHING near the sort of trading for a newly re-signed long-term AD.

But if it were Blake? Holy cow, I'm still ok with having not had that contract, but mostly because Blake just hasn't been healthy. But, down that rabbit hole, we'd have had Blake/PG13/MLE instead of Oladipo/Sabonis/Bojan/Collison/CoJo.
pacers33granger
Forum Mod - Pacers
Forum Mod - Pacers
Posts: 15,071
And1: 6,579
Joined: Sep 26, 2006
 

Re: Paul George brings up Pacers trade....again 

Post#20 » by pacers33granger » Fri Jul 3, 2020 12:47 am

Scoot McGroot wrote:
J. Michael of the Indy Star is ALL IN that it was Anthony Davis. And yes, he's pointed out the absurdity of the whole thing, much as you have. To J. Michael, it's even worse because Paul George claims now he was upset that he got AD to say "I'd like to be traded there", and Paul was upset that we had NOTHING near the sort of trading for a newly re-signed long-term AD.

But if it were Blake? Holy cow, I'm still ok with having not had that contract, but mostly because Blake just hasn't been healthy. But, down that rabbit hole, we'd have had Blake/PG13/MLE instead of Oladipo/Sabonis/Bojan/Collison/CoJo.


Yeah I can see that angle. Paul could very well be misconstruing the situation. I haven no doubts that AD expressed to him at some point that maybe he'd like to play with him. But he's making it sound like it was a done deal he had delivered and management nixed it due to costs.

That Blake/PG team looks like maybe a conference finals run one year if it works out. But we'd need another major piece to really have a shot at getting to the finals those years.

What gets me the most about this whole thing is that it's just not an accurate portrayal of the situation. I know a lot of people think Indy is cheap, but they're just conservative. We've never dumped money that I can recall other than the small contract dumps that don't hurt anything. And we've been buyers, just not big splash buyers. But that's the reality for any small market team. Management clearly did not turn down a homerun signing. It's highly highly likely they turned down a chance at a high reward, but very high risk signing.

The rest of the stuff from that interview, I'm on board with for the most part. The Granger trade was a gut punch for everyone at the time, though I get it since we were trying to win and Turner was putting up good numbers at the time. The Hill trade, meh, but I can get his point that it's one of his guys. And overall the lack of communication with players was clearly something that needed to be changed and was, so the organization has recognized that one.

Return to Indiana Pacers